Quote Originally Posted by ilyaz View Post
I took the dryer apart last night and pulled a ton of lint out of it. I disconnected the vent form the dryer and can feel crud at one of the vent, but I don't think it's completely clogged.

But if I remove the trap and use a vacuum (leaf/shopvac/whatever) from the outside to suck the lint out, why would this make things worse? The joints between the vent pieces are covered by alum tape fairly well so I don't think any dust should come through those.
As long as you are using a vacuum or shop vac to suck the lint out you should be ok. You don't want to use a shop vac or a leaf blower to blow anything inside your house.